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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | August 28, 2024 04:13 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Cris Dush |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Requiring Age Verification for internet pornography |
| In the near future, I plan to introduce legislation that would require pornography websites to verify the age of individuals accessing the material. If someone wants to sign up for an online gambling account in Pennsylvania, they are required to provide their location data, email address, legal name as it appears on their identification, the last four digits of their social security number, their date of birth, and their mobile phone number. It is a very thorough screening process, and it exists to protect minors from accessing online gambling. When it comes to protecting children from exposure to pornography, the only verification measure, if any, is clicking a button that says you are 18. Why would we not protect our kids from pornography websites the same way we protect them from gambling? One study finds that the average age a person first views porn at is around eleven years old. Another study finds that the average age a person first views porn at is around thirteen years old. Our laws to protect children from pornography are clearly not working. This legislation would simply require pornography websites to perform reasonable age verification methods to verify the age of an individual before the individual can view pornography. This would only apply to websites where over one-third of their material is harmful to minors and will not apply to internet service providers or news organizations. This bill will closely mirror Utah Senate Bill 287, which passed in Utah with unanimous support in both chambers. Please join me in cosponsoring this important legislation. |